askance, drew nearer. Others began to play
jokes, imitated the cries of animals, or attempted a _tyrolienne_. But
it was only at eight o'clock, when a collation of cold meat and wine
was served, that the gaiety reached its climax. The bottles were hastily
emptied, the men stuffed themselves with whatever they were lucky enough
to get hold of, and there was a free-and-easy kind of Kermesse in that
huge hall which the logs in the fireplace lit up with a forge-like glow.
Then they all smoked, and the smoke set a kind of mist around the
yellow light from the lamps, whilst on the floor trailed all the spoilt
voting-papers thrown away during the polling; indeed, quite a layer of
dirty paper, together with corks, breadcrumbs, and a few broken plates.
The heels of those seated at the table disappeared amidst this litter.
Reserve was cast aside; a little sculptor with a pale face climbed upon
a chair to harangue the assembly, and a painter, with stiff moustaches
under a hook nose, bestrode a chair and galloped, bowing, round the
table, in mimicry of the Emperor.

Little by little, however, a good many grew tired and went off. At
eleven o'clock there were not more than a couple of hundred persons
present. Past midnight, however, some more people arrived, loungers in
dress-coats and white ties, who had come from some theatre or soiree
and wished to learn the result of the voting before all Paris knew it.
Reporters also appeared; and they could be seen darting one by one out
of the room as soon as a partial result was communicated to them.

Claude, hoarse by now, still went on calling names. The smoke and the
heat became intolerable, a smell like that of a cow-house rose from
the muddy litter on the floor. One o'clock, two o'clock in the morning
struck, and he was still unfolding voting-papers, the conscientiousness
which he displayed delaying him to such a point that the other parties
had long since finished their work, while his was still a maze of
figures. At last all the additions were centralised and the definite
result proclaimed. Fagerolles was elected, coming fifteenth among forty,
or five places ahead of Bongrand, who had been a candidate on the same
list, but whose name must have been frequently struck out. And daylight
was breaking when Claude reached home in the Rue Tourlaque, feeling both
worn out and delighted.

Then, for a couple of weeks he lived in a state of anxiety. A dozen
times he had the idea of going to Fa